Self-Love Symposium

5:15pm at Doctorow Hall, St Edmund Hall

Come to Teddy Hall this Valentine’s Day to a ‘Self-Love Symposium’ . We have some truly inspirational guest speakers to be announced in the run up to the event – think mindfulness, self esteem and more!

Any proceeds from the night will go towards Student Minds, an organisation providing support to students suffering from grief, eating disorders and depression.

***********

We invite you to join us and participate in a panel discussion with the following fantastic speakers:

SOPHIE MACLAREN // The Mindfulness Trainer
Sophie Maclaren is an Oxford-based trainer and coach with a focus on creating custom mindfulness programmes for conferences, leadership and executive education, and student groups within the University of Oxford. She had an early introduction to contemplative and mindfulness methods and has been teaching internationally for individuals and organisations for more than 10 years.

Her work focuses on creating custom mindfulness programmes for organisations and individuals, conferences, executive education and leadership programmes, and student groups at the University of Oxford. Over the last decade she has worked with thousands of individuals; businesses, charities, universities, schools, law firms, religious organisations, MBA programmes, social entrepreneurs, families, communities, and young people in 30+ countries.

MARK LEONARD // The Mindfulness Campaigner
Mark helped to establish the Oxford Mindfulness Centre (OMC), and was Champion of the OMC ‘Mindfulness in the Workplace’ Project. He went on to establish the OMC workplace training spin-off, The Mindfulness Exchange, before working with Mindfulness for Change (M4C).

Mark’s goal is to positively change behaviour – to bring about systemic change in organisations, and in wider society; to shift our priorities from self-interest to quality of experience and better relationships, producing a happier, more equitable society with a reduced environmental footprint, making a better world for all.

ANNA MACHIN // The Love Scientist
Anna’s research focuses on the psychology, cognition and neurobiology of human social relationships. She is interested in how individuals maintain their closest relationships and why people might differ in their desire and ability to do this.

Involvement in happy, stable relationships has a positive impact upon an individual’s mental and physical health while being involved in dysfunctional relationships can ultimately lead to addiction, poor mental health and antisocial behaviour. As a consequence, by understanding what underpins our behaviour within relationships we can promote healthy social interaction and step in when individuals struggle to form positive, functioning bonds.

NATASHA DEVON // ⅓ of The Self-Esteem Team
Natasha is a writer and television/radio pundit. She has co-authored a number of best-selling books (many centred around food, exercise and body image) in collaboration with scientists, psychologists and celebrities. She writes regularly for the Telegraph, Independent Online, The Sun newspaper and is a columnist for Cosmopolitan magazine. She is a body image expert for BBC Breakfast, Sky News and ITV’s Daybreak and was one of Gok Wan’s body confidence mentors for the Channel 4 series Gok’s Teens: The Naked Truth. Natasha works alongside the All Parties Parliamentary Group on body image, specifically reporting on the issues faced by 14-18 year olds.

Natasha recovered from an eating disorder in 2006. Overwhelmingly, she was left feeling that the illness had robbed her of the potential she had as a healthy, confident 17-year-old sixth-former. She didn’t want any other young person to sacrifice their own potential in the same way. She went on to interview hundreds of male and female students and with the (much appreciated) support of the Hertfordshire & Essex High School (for girls) & Bishop’s Stortford High School (for boys) produced the blue-print for what is now our self-esteem class. She has gone on to personally work with in excess of 25,000 students from throughout the UK.

GRACE BARRETT // ⅓ of The Self-Esteem Team
Growing up in the Midlands during the 1990s, Grace was acutely aware that her mixed-race heritage made her ‘different’, which in turn made her relationship with her body rather fractious. As a child, she also suffered from severe eczema which affected her confidence. Aged 18, she moved to London to pursue her ambition of being a singer and was plunged into the looks-obsessed world of rock ‘n’ roll. Here, she was considered attractive and was getting jobs as a result, but at what cost? Today, Grace has struck a balance between being the performer her job requires her to be and being herself.

Grace’s experiences sparked an interest in body image and in particular its relation to ethnicity and the media. Her natural speaking ability and warm, relatable character make her an instant hit with the students. She is living proof that it’s okay to be different and that it’s possible to hold onto your unique identity in a culture that often makes us feel that we have to conform.

NADIA MENDOZA // ⅓ of The Self-Esteem Team
Nadia is a journalist, currently working as a showbiz editor. She has worked for the majority of Britain’s best-selling tabloid newspapers. Her job gives her a unique perspective on the inner workings of fame and celebrity, which in turn has played a huge part in our body image culture.

Owing to childhood difficulties and bullying at school, Nadia began self-harming at an early age as a coping mechanism. This continued for many years, until she found a different way to express her emotions – through writing and a unique sense of style. Nadia is now fully recovered, through a combination of therapy and understanding her illness. Her experiences made her want to reach out to other young people who are struggling with feelings they find difficult to communicate and deal with.

***********

Venue: Doctorow Hall
Doors open 5:00pm
Event begins 5:15pm

This event is open to all sex, gender, sexual, and romantic identities and orientations.

£2 for students (bring ID)
£4 for non-students